Zombies! What are you going to do when...

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Oberon

You underestimate survival instinct. If anything the gangs and the marauders would probably stand a better chance of survival, after all, they don't have to do much in the way of effort, they just wait for ethical survivors to gather the provisions and then raid them. The gangs would probably last longer than the zombies, because eventually over the period of a few years, the zombies would decompose (I presume) while the gangs would found bases (probably around old military bases or castles too) and sortee out from those to raid the surrounding areas, much like the ethical survivors would do, only the raiders would take from the living and not from the dead.

Armouring the horse is an idea but probably too much effort to be able to be undertaken with such limited resources. Like I said though, you're not taking the horse into combat, the horse would be hidden away and used to carry supplies. If you take a horse into a zombie horde then not only is the horse going to be bitten somewhere (because you can't armour the whole creature) but you're probably going to get pulled off and eaten alive. If an area is known to be infested, then park up outside and sneak in the best you can and get the heck out of dodge asap. Avoiding combat wherever possible is the surest way to live longer.

The horse would take up valuable food and supplies, which is a very bad idea...

[Schroeder]

Not everyone is living in a desert.
In some areas of this world the horse can eat the grass that grows plentiful in the countryside.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

The horse would take up valuable food and supplies, which is a very bad idea...

Au contrare, grass and vegetation would be plentiful in the countryside, as would water and grass and water, unlike petrol and diesel with no-one to create them, does not run out. Horses can also be used to aid with the farming, with ploughs and the like, and would probably do well to help keep the grass down a bit.

[Raptor1]

Bah, if there's one thing I don't know anything about, it's horses. I still wouldn't rely on one, though. As a living creature, it might get ill (Not nessecairly in Zombie disease) just when you need it to carry you and your loot out of trouble and stuff like that. It also can't carry too much, which means it's not very valuable when you're planning a large-scale raid for supplies.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

Bah, if there's one thing I don't know anything about, it's horses. I still wouldn't rely on one, though. As a living creature, it might get ill (Not nessecairly in Zombie disease) just when you need it to carry you and your loot out of trouble and stuff like that. It also can't carry too much, which means it's not very valuable when you're planning a large-scale raid for supplies.

Horse and cart, chap After all, since technology and fuel is going to go down the drain within the first five to ten years most people will be driving around in their...very noisy and zombie attracting...SUVs and the like, so using that time to round up a few horses wouldn't be a bad idea, two or three perhaps at the very most.
Horses are fairly resilient, after all, how did humanity survive before the advent of the motorcar or railway? So long as you treat them right, feed them right and don't run them into the ground then they'll do fine.
You're probably more likely to run out of petrol or battery power in your car than you are to suffer an illness in your horse.

[Raptor1]

But a horse still needs to rest, and it's not too fast while carrying around a lot of supplies, in which case you are vulnerable if you're raiding into an area still infested by zombies.

While fuel might be an issue for motorized vehicles after some time, most chances are it will be plentiful in the first months or years (Zombies don't use fuel, after all) of the outbreak, by which point the zombies will likely decay and largely die out. Of course, you still have to deal with the anarchy of the world after the outbreak, but there's no real easy solution to that...

[Oberon]

The horse would rest back at the castle or designated safe zone for the journey or near the raid zone, after all there's no need to gallop there, a gentle trot would get you there and still have a fair bit of wind left in the horse. Like I said, the best way to survive is avoid contact, and any motor car creates noise, lots of noise, giving your position away to anyone on foot or on horseback. I think you underestimate the horse quite a bit, while it might not be able to get close to the carrying power of the big trucks, it doesn't need to carry around a great big load of fuel and its range is unlimited providing you can find water and grass which in my neighborhood is rarely a problem. As for speed, even loaded, a horse is faster than a standard zombie, if it's a fast zombie then there might be a few problems, but that's what I've got the shotgun or AK for.

Dealing with the anarchy is the next step, and another place where the horse might come into its own. Eventually fuel and ammunition will run low unless people start making their own bullets (which with 78 odd percent of the population gone is pot luck if the right people know the tools to use, etc) and making their own gunpowder, etc. So we will be back at the bow and arrow/crossbow and sword stage. The castle will defend well against those and hopefully by this time we should be near self-sufficiency and/or have enough manpower to put up a defence against raiders. Seeking out and establishing ties with other communities and making alliances between us to help protect our trade routes from raiders and any remaining zombies would be the next logical step, after all, we're bound to have something they want and they're bound to have something we want. From there, the UK returns to the fiefdoms of old.

[Task Force]

But what if zombies start useing the english channel tunnel.

[Raptor1]

I'm not saying a horse is not useful, but you're underestimating the value of heavy motorized transport, especially since you're trying to run a permenant safe zone with other people, where the carrying capacity of the horse would not be enough to bring enough supplies for everybody (Unless you manage to grow your own food, that is).

I suppose it doesn't matter much, if I find that my truck doesn't work as well as it should, I could probably switch it to something else; if you find your horse isn't working well enough, you could switch it to something else as well.

[Takeda Shingen]

Oh, what the hell.


Item of Value: 10 Cartons of Cigarettes to be bartered for food, water and ammunition. Currency and precious metals will be of no value.

Luxury Item: 1 Bottle of Highland Park 12-Year Old Scotch

Melee Weapon: USMC Issue KA-BAR. Combat knives are cool.

Ranged Weapon: Semi-Auto 12 Gauge Shotgun. Zombies hate shotguns, and 12-gauge ammunition is very commonplace.

Transport: Horse. Duh. Can eat all kinds of grain and grass. No gasoline required.


If zombie apocalypse films have taught us anything, it is that the lone survivor or small band of survivors will inevitably succumb to the zombie hordes. I'm joining a large survivor settlement.

[Turbografx]

Item of Value: As much ammo as I can carry. Some for trade.

Luxury Item: Liquor, cigarettes or TP. For trade.

Melee Weapon: Trench club, since you gotta smash the noggin', blades won't be too effective.

Ranged Weapon: .45-70 carbine, the only gun I have than can splatter things.

Transport: Bike

I would try to find a group, safety in numbers, and then see if we can set up on a ship or rig not too far from the coast. We can land to gather supplies when we need them and then go back to the safety of the sea.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

I'm not saying a horse is not useful, but you're underestimating the value of heavy motorized transport, especially since you're trying to run a permenant safe zone with other people, where the carrying capacity of the horse would not be enough to bring enough supplies for everybody (Unless you manage to grow your own food, that is).

I suppose it doesn't matter much, if I find that my truck doesn't work as well as it should, I could probably switch it to something else; if you find your horse isn't working well enough, you could switch it to something else as well.

Oh aye, that's why I initially put Toyota Prius. Might not be a big ass truck, but has a good MPG on it, which is good and since at first you're just going up against the hordes then the only real armour you need is something to cover the windows and perhaps some kind of plough at the front to push the hordes aside. Traditional fare really though is the Land Rover or the Taliban taxi (Hilux) but they do like to drink fuel on a regular basis, so half of your cargo is going to be petrol or diesel for trips of any distance.
But yeah, when it all runs out though, it'll be horse or foot...well, or bicycle, but I'll leave that to the Dutch zombies.
Oh, and TF, they already are using the channel tunnel....we call them the French.

Actually, Turbografx hasn't got too shabby an idea there, a floating oil rig perhaps or one of the forts off the coast, but regular trips to the coast would be needed for supplies, plus you've got to watch out for crawlers coming up out of the sea. Since the buggers don't breathe any more then walking underwater (or shuffling) won't be much of a problem for them.
I think I'd stick with the castle though, at least the buggers don't have grenades or cannons...

Furthermore (I'm spamming the edit button tonight) another big problem would arise from disease in the latter stages of the outbreak. Safe water locations are going to be hard to find since decaying zombies would probably take up a number of them, so medical supplies and old hygienic practice, as well as the quarantining of any new arrivals would probably not be a bad idea.

[Turbografx]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Actually, Turbografx hasn't got too shabby an idea there, a floating oil rig perhaps or one of the forts off the coast, but regular trips to the coast would be needed for supplies, plus you've got to watch out for crawlers coming up out of the sea. Since the buggers don't breathe any more then walking underwater (or shuffling) won't be much of a problem for them.
I think I'd stick with the castle though, at least the buggers don't have grenades or cannons...

Yeah, zombies can walk under the sea but can they swim?

The castle is a good idea; if I still lived in Holland, I would head to Muiderslot near me. It's in perfect condition and is a good size for a small group of people to manage. Some of the big ones would be too much. There are fruit trees, land for gardens or farming, access to the river for transport and fish and only one entrance with a drawbridge.

[Oberon]

That's a nice looking castle, walls are a bit small though, not much room in the grounds of the castle, but that's how a lot of them were made I guess, and there should be enough room there to do some stuff with.
They can't swim (I think) but if you had to drop anchor and then raise it again you could bring up a couple of uninvited guests...zombie fishing

[Dowly]

Zombies can walk/float, the cant drown, so theyr only objective is to get to the food source.

Just for Hunter;
CHOKE ON IT!!!


Romero, you're so awesome...